You can tell that Jonas Karlsson is a playwright by his spare writing. While it’s true that good writers show and don’t tell their stories, I wish he would have shown us a little more about some of the supporting characters which could have made The Room even funnier than it already is. Reviews have compared this novel to the TV series, The Office (British version) because of its pathologically narcissistic main character and the portrayal of office allegiances and social order. Bjorn’s observations and the decisions he makes based on his perceived superiority are dark and bizarrely funny. This Kafkaesque story invites the reader to interpret the meaning of the room that only Bjorn can enter, and whose door only he can see. Enigmatic and thought provoking.
